Users of illegal audiovisual content are also under close scrutiny by prosecutors, in addition to black market sales of access subscriptions. streaming platforms.

According to the information, an investigator working on a file of a scheme that operated in Patras and offered unauthorized access to, among other things, top sporting events, called eight users whose details are in the case file to testify under oath. Users admitted that they purchased by subscription from set-top boxes that, without the permission of pay-TV providers, provided access to audiovisual content.

It remains to be seen how the law will deal with them. This is in view of the fact that users of pirated audiovisual content can face a prison sentence of at least one month and a fine of up to 15,000 euros, in accordance with the provisions of Presidential Decree 343/2002.

In December 2022, Patras Security arrested seven people for “hacking” subscription channels while the ring had been in operation for about six years with 2,000 customers.

In Greece, there are more than 900,000 subscribers illegally accessing pay TV platforms, while the number of legal users reaches 1.2 million. That is, about four out of ten users have an illegal subscription with an average monthly cost of 15 euros. , and the annual income of pirates exceeds 160 million euros.

Due to these activities, according to market participants, the state loses approximately 35 million euros annually, the viability of pay TV due to the restoration of taxation of Greek content providers (over-the-top) is under threat, while it is estimated that in the pan-European scale in the audiovisual sector lost 18,000 jobs. However, consumers of this type of content are also at risk. This is because, according to information, in many cases, for example, in the case of the Patras network, which was liquidated by the police in December 2022, criminals sell users’ personal information to other criminal groups. It is no coincidence that prosecutors equate piracy of audiovisual content with organized crime of pimping and drug trafficking.

According to university research Bournemouth on behalf of AAPAThe number of illegal pay TV users in Europe and the UK increased by almost 25% between 2018 and 2021. The income of those who develop this activity increased by 12.6% and amounted to more than 1 billion euros, while 17.1 million Europeans -as far as almost the population of Kato countries– they had access to illegal services IPTV in 2021 12% of users are in the 16-24 age group, while audiovisual content providers lost in 2021 3.2 billion euro, according to his research Bournemouth.

In Greece, original content creators, in addition to being highly competitive, are also required to control the collection of pay TV fees. On the contrary, foreign streaming platforms excessive (OTT) are not subject to taxation.